Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country is committed to defeating Hamas terrorists, but it has no intention of conquering or occupying Gaza after the war recedes.
“We don’t seek to occupy, but we seek to give it and us a better future in the entire Middle East,” the Israeli leader said during a Fox News interview on Nov. 9.
“That requires defeating Hamas. I’ve set goals. I didn’t set a timetable because it can take more time,” he added.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments came after he said at the beginning of the week that Israel would take responsibility for the “overall security” of the war-torn enclave to ensure its freedom from Hamas’ terror.
The United States, its major ally, has rejected any “reoccupation” of Gaza by Israel, but agreed that a return to the Oct. 6 status quo is not possible—the day before Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu said that a ceasefire will not occur without the release of all Israeli hostages. He added that Israeli forces are making efforts to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza, including by providing safe zones and corridors for civilians.
The White House said that Israel has agreed to daily four-hour pauses in operations in Gaza to let civilians move south. When asked about this, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel had opened a safe passage for Gazan civilians.
“The fighting continues against the Hamas enemy, the Hamas terrorists, but in specific locations for a given period, a few hours here, a few hours there, we want to facilitate a safe passage of civilians away from the zone of fighting,” he added.
Mr. Netanyahu was also asked about President Joe Biden’s comments on Nov. 9, in which the president told reporters that Israel took “a little longer than I hoped” to agree to longer pauses. The president said he requested a pause longer than three days.
The Israeli leader replied: “I hoped we could do it very fast, but we have battled conditions on the ground, the safety of our own forces, the hostages we want to get out, and the humanitarian corridors we want to [operate]—which I said, Hamas is preventing by using its own fire ... preventing Palestinian civilians from leaving.”
Israel launched counteroffensive in Gaza after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll in Gaza has topped 10,00 this week.
Israeli officials currently estimate that Hamas took 239 hostages during its attack on Israel. U.S. officials say they believe that fewer than 10 Americans are among those held captive.
Indirect talks are taking place in Qatar—which also played a role in freeing four hostages by Hamas last month—about a larger release of hostages. CIA Director William Burns was in Doha to discuss efforts to win the release of hostages in Gaza with the Qatari prime minister and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, according to a U.S. official.
Qatar is a frequent intermediary in international dealings with Hamas, and some top Hamas political leaders make their home in the Gulf country. The U.S. official stressed that Mr. Burns isn’t playing a lead role in the negotiations.
The United Nations said on Nov. 8 that the pace of Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza, where the fighting is occurring, had quickened, with 15,000 people fleeing on Nov. 7, compared with 5,000 on Nov. 6 and 2,000 on Nov. 5.
